Selfless
by InsideYourDreams24
Summary: Edward's POV to 'A Piercing Scream': During the 'battle' in Breaking Dawn, when Jane tried to attack Carlisle... what if she broke through? Edward/Carlisle, but Father/Son -ness, NO slash.
1. Selfless

**A/N: Finally! Haha Fanfiction has been extremely difficult and not letting me upload stories for a while, but now it's finally working. This is Edward's POV to 'A Piercing Scream' and I really hope you enjoy it. Please review! **

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The wind whipped angrily past us, though Benjamin was doing nothing to influence it. I tentatively listened as Aro, Marcus, and Caius debated and bickered over my daughter. Aro's thoughts remained centered on how much they could learn about my dear Renesmee in the time they were given, and how they could continue studying her. Marcus was not as peaceful; his thoughts were simply that they exterminate the threat so that they could return to the tower as soon as possible. Marcus wanted the quickest way out, since our family, especially the couples, were bringing back some extremely unpleasant memories for him. Caius was worse yet; his thoughts were focused on the best ways of killing us all. Caius wanted death, a torturous death to all of us, at all costs. It was disturbing, the mental images he came up with. I made a mental note to never pay attention to Caius' mind if we confronted one another again.

Everyone was on edge, anxiously awaiting the Volturi's decision in the chilled field. Aro, Marcus, and Caius seemed to be going nowhere fast so I let my mind wander to the rest of the guard. Chelsea caught my attention as she started to try to break our bonds. I tensed even more; I'd never felt her influence, but the idea of being separated from everyone I loved made me cringe.

"It's starting," I heard my wife whisper, her voice echoing like wind chimes. I could not feel anything though, and I briefly wondered if Chelsea's gift took time like Alec's. I wandered towards the minds of the others in the Volturi as Jane's loud thoughts soon became easily distinguished. She was choosing a target, how disgusting. I assumed she would choose me since I was half of the reason we were here in the first place. She knew she would be useless against my Bella, so I was the second best thing. If I were human, I'm sure my heart would have started beating faster in anticipation.

I was not looking forward to the pain, but I would surely take it versus anyone else in our group and family having to endure something like that. My mind flashed back to when I had tried to stop Jane from testing her 'gift' on Bella. The pain had only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like a millennia in my mind. The pain was far worse than anything I could have ever imagined, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. But her mind took a different path as she thought of advice Caius had given her centuries ago while exterminating a coven, "Take down their leader first in battle, the rest will remain lost without him..." My brow furrowed in thought, our leader…

_**NO!**_

I gasped as it dawned on me who she would choose. I spun around barely in time to hear the worst sound I had ever heard in my entire existence. Carlisle cried out in shock, sounding strangled as his breath caught in his throat. His shoulders locked back before he started to stagger and collapse.

"**CARLISLE****!!**" I screamed; the call deep with worry and anger. I rushed as fast as I could to him, catching him before he hit the ground. He did not stay still, though, and twisted upwards in pain before screaming again. He tensed, clenching his fists by his side, groaning and struggling. It wretched my heart as I frantically tried to do something, anything to help, to stop, what he was going through. I soon realized in horror that I could do nothing to help him as he arched his back and shouted in anguish. _No, no, no, no! This isn't right, this can't be happening_, I thought. I clenched my teeth together in frustration. I brushed Carlisle's cheek, hoping to add some sort of comfort, his pain -filled eyes glanced up at me, and for a slight second he looked grateful, but it was short lived, his eyes lost focus and glazed over and he howled and hissed in agony once more. Pain traced every line in my father's face as he writhed in torture.

I kept waiting for Jane to stop; she was keeping him much longer than she ever tortured me. _Why wasn't she letting him go? Is it possible to KILL someone this way?_ I didn't dare think about that, I would come completely undone. Every scream, every flinch from my father was slowly making me lose my mind, how can this happen to him?

Mercilessly Jane kept up her attack, making us watch as our father, our creator, our base, slowly became undone. His cries, though still in anguish, took on an edge that scared me like no other. They were cries of helplessness, of hopelessness, of someone that was expecting the end to come and almost strived for it. Never in my existence had I heard my father so broken, it just wasn't like him. His breath came out in huge gasps, like he was being drowned or suffocated, though he didn't even need to breathe. His eyes were like those of a newborn, fearful and wild, never staying in focus for more than a second. I couldn't stand this anymore, I wouldn't! I slammed my fist on the ground as I seethed in anger, contemplating whether to attempt to destroy Jane myself. I knew I wouldn't make it, but at least it would throw her off balance.

Carlisle's face snapped towards me, his eyes locking onto mine for one second. His darkening irises were out of focus with all of this Godforsaken pain, but through all the torture I heard Carlisle's thoughts come through. Seeming to take my ability, I heard him think one thing clearly,

'_Edward, as much as it may not seem like it, I __can__ take this. __Please__ do not do anything irrational! If I survive this by losing my son it's not worth it!'_ His voice echoed through my mind and his eyes closed as he clenched his teeth. His thoughts were no longer audible through his mental screams.

_He's lying on the ground, trembling in __outrageous__ pain, and his only clear thoughts are to make sure I'M safe?_ Carlisle truly was the most compassionate and unbelievably selfless being I'd ever met. I suddenly realized what Carlisle meant about heaven and giving us credit for trying. I couldn't even IMAGINE a god that would not let Carlisle into heaven, not for one second. _Perhaps we do have souls_, I thought, the best of us at least.

My epiphany was cut short, however, as the pain intensified in Carlisle's mind to an unbelievable extent. Carlisle threw his head back and SCREAMED. It slashed my heart in two, it sounded like a scream of death. I swore I wouldn't think of it but it truthfully sounded like he was dying.

My father was dying.

_No! Why? Why HIM_?! _Anyone but him!_ I growled in anguish as I held him tightly in my arms, though he was nearly crazed in pain now. _My father, my creator._

I heard my mother let out a terrified sob as she desperately wished she could run over to her husband, to help him, to comfort him in any way she could. She brought her hands to her parted lips as she fell on her knees, quaking with dry tears. A furious hiss escaped Rosalie's pursed lips, and Emmett clenched his teeth together harshly to keep back the large string of profanities and curses streaming through his mind. I heard growls and hisses echo behind us as our whole gathering flooded with rage. _Damn her for doing this, damn her to the deepest and darkest pit of Hell._ I swore if it was the last thing in my existence I would hunt Jane down and kill her. I would put her through a thousand times more pain than she could ever imagine. If I were capable of tears I was positive I'd be weeping heavily by now; Carlisle was strong, but it scared me to think how little more he could take. He panted heavily as his face twisted in pain, desperately trying to keep still, though he was convulsing almost against his will. He tensed and arched his back, his shut eyes portraying nothing but raw terror.

All of the sudden, the pain lifted and disappeared completely. Carlisle slumped into my arms with an unsteady sigh, trembling and then falling deathly still. He didn't breath, he had no need to, and I feared he didn't even have the strength to breathe either. His arms and face seemed drained of what little color he had in the first place. The bruises under his eyes had escalated to dark purple shadows extending completely over and around his eyelids, making them look sunken, and decayed. His lips were white and trembling slightly with pain and fear as I choked back a sob. My father looked so vulnerable, so defenseless, so…dead. It made me beg for a chance to be human so I could cry, to let tears stream down my face for my father. His terribly faint thoughts were the only indication that he was alive at all.

I looked up to see what happened to make Jane lift her torture. To my dismay, I found her still trying to infect him, but she was getting blocked. Her face quickly turned into a scowl as I flinched reflexively when she targeted my wife, me, my mother, and the rest of my family in turn. Yet I did not see or hear anyone's pain as she shrieked in disbelief. I looked up in wonder at my wife. Though absolutely enraged with newborn fury, she looked determined, not to mention beautiful. She also happened to be looking at Carlisle and me as well, like she was checking us. I didn't care at the moment; I stared up at her like she was my saving grace, which of course she had been all along,

"Did _you_ do that?" I questioned, "…Jane can't feel him anymore; she can't feel any of us." She stared intently at me, her eyes slightly widened as something occurred to her. Her lips then started trembling to make a failed attempt at a grin,

"I'm _all_ over this." She whispered with dark humor. I stared in astonishment at my wife; she never failed to astound me,

"Amazing," I whispered absentmindedly. I looked down as Carlisle began to stir and breathe again in my arms. His eyes fluttered half-open, very tired, weary, and as black as night. Carlisle tensed his muscles to move, but I hesitated, tightening my hold on his shoulders. Carlisle looked at me, he tried to say something but his throat was far too rough from screaming, _'I want to stand, I need to see everyone. I can, you'll just need to help me,'_ he thought. I paused, still skeptical, he looked so weak, but he started try to stand on his own again and I had no choice besides forcefully holding him down but to help him, taking on most of his weight. We were almost fully up when he began to collapse again. Whether it was Jane beginning to break through or just lingering effects I wasn't sure, but I caught him as he leaned heavily on my shoulder. We stood closer together, and I dared not leave his side, no matter what happened from now on.

Carlisle was still shaking, and I searched his eyes and face for any signs of an attack. I tried to avoid listening to his thoughts, first off because they frightened me with how close he had come to going mad, and secondly because he deserved his privacy while he recovered. Try as I might, I still caught enough to know that he was not under any pain from Jane's attack, not anymore. I quickly scanned the minds of everyone around us. Most of our side was the same, shocked in disbelief, anger, sadness, pain.

Esme was a wreck; she was constantly debating whether to run over, but afraid that would show too much weakness to the other side. The guard was trying to be tentative, but they were also shocked over what had just occurred, the witnesses were even worse. Aro, Marcus, and Caius were trained well enough to block me out, so I could not tell what their views were. The strongest emotion I found significant in the guard was Jane. She was absolutely outraged. Alec frantically tried to calm her down, to the point of threatening to use his ability on her, the whole argument almost made me smile.

For now we were protected against mental combat, my Bella being an outstanding shield for us. I started to believe there was a chance we could actually come out of this alive. My only worry was if this turned into a battle, everyone would throw themselves at Jane for doing this. I still wasn't sure a physical fight would work to our advantage. Jane would die though, at all costs; she most definitely would not survive. All that was left to do now was to wait as the three head Volturi debated on. Carlisle gripped my hand feebly, letting me support him and looked me in the eyes, beginning to think straight again, _'Thank you Edward, for staying with me. I know how hard that must've been for you.' _He amazed me with his selflessness, and I placed my other hand on his shoulder as we both faced the now approaching Volturi leaders.

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**A/N 2: So? What did you think? Should I add more or is it fine like this? Personally, I think it needs more closure, maybe another chapter? But that's just me. Thanks for reading! IYD24**


	2. Afterwards

**A/N: Hello all! I finally got this story up, and trust me, I'll be updating a LOT more now that school's out (Huzzah!). Anyways, this is what happened, well, afterwards haha. I've got a few requests to do Carlisle's POV, which is going to be a little difficult since I'll have to think up of what Jane's power actually does to you. But it'll be posted as soon as I figure it out. Oh, and I also got a request to do Esme's POV, which I hadn't even thought of but I'm really exited to try it out. If I do Carlisle or Esme's POV it'll be a different story, so if you're only subscribed to this story please put me on Author Alert if you wish to read those. **

**A specieal thanks to TheLongGoodbye, ****kiim, ****samira parsa, ****Handsan, ****Servant05, TwilightGuru09, & Just4Me. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to review :)**

**That's all for now, **  
**IYD24**

**PS: Oh, and Twilight doesn't belong to me, yadda yadda, etcetera etcetera etcetera, and all that jazz ;D Please review!**

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It was over, it was actually over.

After hours of having to watch my father stand alone, after what he had been through, debating with the three most powerful vampires in the world, it was finally over. Carlisle stood by my side, his hand gripping my shoulder tightly as he watched the last of the Volturi scatter into the forest. He held his head up high, shoulders back. Only I knew it was all an act, and as soon as the last of the guard disappeared from our view Carlisle's form trembled and he broke down, his remaining strength leaving him. He dropped down to his knees with a gasp, clenching his teeth, his arms wrapped around himself.

"Oh my God!" Esme ran at him with worry and love she had been holding back the entire confrontation. She flew down onto her knees so that she was level with him. My father hung his head so that his blonde hair covered his eyes, looking weary and defeated.

"Carlisle?" Esme whispered, placing her hand under his chin, bringing his face up to hers. He stared at her for a moment, his sunken eyes disoriented as the moment dawned on him as well: it was all over, they were gone.

"Oh Esme!" Carlisle threw his arms around his wife, pulling her towards him, resting his head on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around her husband's neck, whispering idly and running her fingers threw his hair. They remained on the ground together, just the two of them. After watching their embrace, any tension left was broken as couples embraced each other, covens huddled together, our family was together again. My thoughts were interrupted as Bella ran into me, throwing herself into my arms with an almost painful force. Her lips met mine and suddenly nothing else was as important as us, alive, right here. When we finally broke apart, we walked over to Alice and Jasper, so relieved to have them back. Bella was furious with Alice for making her worry so much, but after hearing her plead for a while, hugged her with instant forgiveness. I gave my brother a warm smile, sending him waves of relief and acceptance. He grinned, throwing his head back slightly to get his blonde curls out of his face,

_'Glad to be back,'_ he responded to my emotions. Jasper and I had always understood each other's abilities very well, and often used them instead of actual communication. Alice threw herself at my without giving me time to respond, obviously glad to be back. We talked for a moment, meeting up with Emmett and Rosalie. Rosalie unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Jasper, while Emmett enveloped Alice in a monstrous bear hug, spinning her around in circles. Alice giggled while Jasper returned Rosalie's gesture with a small embrace. I had never really understood Jasper and Rosalie's bond, perhaps because they both had painful memories? Either way the two of them had always understood each other very well. Emmett finally let Alice down, and Alice repeated everything she had told Bella about being in South America and finding Nahuel and such.

After that was finished, we looked over at our parents. They had stood up; Carlisle had both of his arms around Esme's waist, his hands resting on her back, her arms still around his neck. Carlisle bent his head down so that their foreheads were touching. Both of their eyes were closed, like they were frozen in time. They looked so perfect, I almost felt guilty interrupting them, but things were getting to a slightly awkward point. Fortunately, that's what we had Emmett for,

"Hey! If you two love birds don't mind saving your make-out session for later, you're still in front of your children!" Esme looked over at us, rolling her eyes and smiling in fake annoyance. Carlisle lifted his head slowly, turning towards us with a tired crooked grin. He shook his head slightly with amusement. They began to walk over to us, Carlisle still keeping one arm extended around his wife.

_'So what exactly happened?'_ I heard Jasper ask me silently. His thoughts were filled with worry as they flashed back to while they were on their way to the field:

_They had been running when he heard Alice shriek, he turned to find her on the ground, terror in her lost eyes. Her voice was strangled and terrified,  
"D-D-Daddy, Daddy no!" Alice was the only one of us who ever called Carlisle Daddy, though we all thought of him as our father. It had taken Jasper longer than usual to shake her out of her vision, she was close to hysterics, but even then she refused to tell him or any of them what she saw, she ran twice as fast as she was befor_e.

_'How bad was it?'_ I knew Alice would tell him tonight, but I also knew how impatient Jasper could be when it came to keeping the family safe. I frowned and looked at Carlisle; I thought about what had happened, and then looked back at Jasper. I painfully sent out as big a wave of pain and terror and anger that I could manage, though nothing could compare to when it actually happened. Jasper's eyes widened with shock, his lips parting slightly. I mouthed to him, _*Worse*_. He was stunned, and more curious than ever, but our parents had finally reached us, and all of his attention focused on Carlisle. Esme threw her arms around Alice and Jasper, so relieved to have all her children back.

"Oh I've missed you two so much, don't you EVER leave me like that again!" Esme scolded, quickly returning to under Carlisle's arm. We all laughed at Esme's attempt to be angry with the two of them and joined the rest of our rather large gathering in the field. Most covens left rather quickly after saying goodbye and wishing recovery towards Carlisle. Even Tanya's family, after wishing their condolences, left almost immediately wanting to mourn the death of their dear sister. Pretty soon it was just us left in the house. Jake had gone home with Seth and Leah, telling them to stay with Sue, while he went to Billy's since both of them must've been worried about their children. No one said much, we just enjoyed each other's company and peace, something we hadn't gotten to do in a long time.

Eventually Esme and Carlisle went upstairs, Carlisle wanted to rest and regain some of his energy. I helped him up the stairs by supporting his left side, Esme supporting his right. We laid Carlisle down on the bed and almost instantly he stopped breathing, lying completely still once more. I got nervous again, it scared me to see him looking so lifeless, but his thoughts remained strong as Esme walked me to the door, thanking me. I walked back downstairs to find Jasper almost bursting with curiosity, question after question running through his head,

"Alice, I suggest you telling your husband what happened before he has a stroke." I informed Alice with a small grin. She rolled her eyes at me,

"Well, once they realized we'd left, they all went running like hell towards the treaty line..."  
She went through the entire story with Jasper, starting not long after they had left. I was actually very surprised that my sister knew so much even though she wasn't here. Emmett and Rosalie left a little while after she started. They had lived it once, and no one wanted to relive it again. When Alice got to the confrontation with the Volturi, Bella stood up with Renesmee and headed towards the door. I knew that she did not want our daughter to have any idea of what had happened to Carlisle, ever. Now it was just Alice, Jasper and I left in the family room. I knew I probably should have left them alone to discuss everything, but I didn't want to risk Jasper getting TOO angry at what happened. We didn't need an enraged vampire running to Italy at three in the morning.

"And then a little while after Chelsea started trying to use her ability to try to separate them, Jane, well, Jane..." Alice's pained memories of her vision kept her from finishing off her sentence.  
It was then that I actually saw the bit that she did. The image was enough to haunt you for the rest of your life, and it was one of those rare occasions where Alice actually regretted having her visions. She had seen the worst of it:

_Carlisle twisting on the ground, screaming at the top of his lungs for the pain to stop; Me kneeling over him, dry sobbing and clutching his arms with pleading eyes; Esme on her knees in horror, covering her mouth with both hands to keep from screaming;, Jane looking over with this enragingly calm, serene smile on her lips. _

I almost couldn't stop myself from growling out loud; she ENJOYED his pain, he AMUSED her. A deep red seemed to seep into my vision as I fumed over the idea of Jane taking PLEASURE from what she did to Carlisle, to my father. I felt a soft hand clutch my shoulder and I look up to find Jasper leaning towards me. He looked at me worriedly as I realized I must have been bombarding him with rage.

"Jane... Jane used her ability. She used it on..." I couldn't even bring myself to say it. Jasper looked at me expectantly,

"Jane used her ability on Dad!" Alice finished quickly. Jasper's eyes widened drastically, he spun around to face Alice, taking both of her petite hands into his own.

"What? Why?" He asked in a sharp breath. His mind started racing through images, some of Carlisle, of Jane, of what Jane could do, of what she'd done in the War. A growl started to build up into his chest as the rage started to settle in. He caught himself though, and managed to calm himself down before anything... regrettable happened. He drew in a calming breath, forcing himself to stay seated.

"What happened after that?" He asked, his eyes remaining closed. Alice started this time,

"Well, no one could do anything, they all just sort of had to watch..."

"Which no doubt was the plan all along," I finished, "they figured if they took down our base, we would fall as well. They were probably right, too..." I muttered the last part, not wanting to even think what we would do if THAT happened.

"So that continued until Bella, I guess from being so angry, discovered how to project her mental shield onto everyone on our side of the field. And then after a couple minutes we showed up and the rest you know." Alice half-heartedly smiled before kissing Jasper lightly on the cheek. It took a moment before he lifted his head up again, his eyebrows down in thought.

_'The pain he must've felt, the agony, I can STILL feel it from him. Sometimes I wonder how he can have so much hurt and loss and worry inside of him and still be the loving father he is.'_ I cringed; I didn't like to think of my father as being in pain: physical, mental, or emotional, though the first was nearly impossible. We had been through a lot together, and he had been through three times as much before he even met me. My father was an amazing man, and I loved him, along with our whole family.  
My thoughts were distracted by thoughts from upstairs,

"Jasper?" I asked  
"Yeah?" he looked at me,  
"I know you're trying to help, but you're sending so much calm and relaxation that Esme can barely move," I almost laughed at Esme's annoyed yet still loving thoughts as she laid on their bed.  
"Oh, sorry," Jasper muttered, embarrassed.

We sat in the living room for a few moments, processing everything, when Alice abruptly jumped up from the sofa,

"Come on Jazz, let's go hunt," she suggested. Both him and I were both out the door as fast as possible as I saw Alice's vision and Jasper started to feel, erm, _different_ emotions start to come down from upstairs. I grumbled on my way out of the door,

"Good Lord you two. Really? Ugh you're freaking shameless," I heard Carlisle chuckled lightly before I ran off into the forest opposite Alice & Jasper. I couldn't help but grin and shake my head at them while the wind brushed against my face and I dashed home to my beautiful wife and child in the woods.

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**A/N: Sorry if it seemed kind of dragged out, but I wasn't really sure how to end. Also, I'm pretty sure 'enragingly' isn't a word, but I couldn't think of a better replacement, sorry to all you grammer freaks out there, I feel for you. **

**So, what were Carlisle and Esme doing upstairs that sent Alice, Jasper, and Edward running? Author Alert and stay tunned to find out! ;)**


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